


Home

by BeaRyan



Series: Teresa [2]
Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Who the hell did Julia take with her when she fled Atlanta?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-15
Updated: 2013-12-15
Packaged: 2018-01-04 16:40:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1083269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeaRyan/pseuds/BeaRyan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pondering the identity of the mysterious Teresa who fled Atlanta with Julia before the bombs dropped. In "Home" Tom returns home to Atlanta.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home

Tom sighed deeply and finally let his posture sag. He hadn't seen his childhood home in fifteen years. He hadn't honestly expected to ever see it again, hadn't wanted to really. Most of Atlanta had burned in the first year of the blackout and in the second year the Chattahoochee river had become so polluted with waste it carried more disease than water. The odds that the two bedroom bungalow in a neighborhood that had peaked long before he'd been born still existed weren't good. Even slimmer were the odds that anyone he knew still lived there. 

He'd focused on Jason and Julia after the blackout, the 800 miles between himself and his mother a seemingly insurmountable amount of distance until the day he'd had to flee the Monroe Republic. He didn't have time for guilt, not guilt about leaving his mother to fend for herself, not guilt about letting her parenting techniques guide him with Jason. He'd made it out alive, back to somewhere the could try to claim as his own and start over yet again. He let himself stand at the edge of the sidewalk and feel hopeful for only a few seconds before stiffening his spine and pushing himself and his wife forward. 

The wind shifted and the smell of roses and gardenias enveloped them as they approached the porch steps. He remembered planting them with his mother the day she burned the mortgage note. She'd been a widow, dignified and determine to succeed, to do right by her son and her Lord, and paying off her house had been a joyous right of passage for her. Her friends had brought by cuttings to mark the day. He'd been in high school at the time. 

Two years later Penn State had given him the best scholarship offer and he'd left home, promising aloud to return and resolutely determined to come back for no more than short visits. At school he'd met Julia, a blond with a private school education and a doctor for a father. He'd put off bringing her to Atlanta as long as he could, but once she got pregnant he had to do the right thing, albeit minimizing his chances of losing it all in the process. He'd married her and then brought her to meet his mother. The flowers had been in full bloom the first time she'd come to Atlanta. He turned to smile at her and share the memory, but she was pale and unsteady on her feet. He quickly wrapped an arm around her waist for support. 

“Julia? What is it?”

She leaned against him and looked up with a wan smile. “All these years and that smell still reminds me of morning sickness.”

The voice was loud and sharp, cutting through the years apart. “Thomas, your white girl better not throw up in my yard again.” 

“Mother.” He breathed the word like a prayer. 

Julia drew herself up, knowing this woman respected nothing so much as self-control. “It's good to see you again, Teresa. May we come in?”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and crit con welcome.


End file.
